Southern District of Florida | United States Bankruptcy Court
SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURTSOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDAMIAMI DIVISIONIn re: ________________________,Case No. _________-LMI Chapter ___Debtor.______________________________/ORDER SETTING REQUIREMENTS FOR EVIDENTIARY HEARING BY VIDEO CONFERENCE AND ESTABLISHING RELATED DEADLINESTo expedite and facilitate the evidentiary hearing of _____________(ECF #___) (the “Motion”) and ___________ (ECF #__), the Court ORDERS as follows:EVIDENTIARY HEARING; SERVICE. The Court will hold an evidentiary hearing on the Motion by video conference on ___________commencing at ______ _.m. The Court has reserved ___________ for this matter. The movant shall serve a copy of this order on all appropriate parties and file a certificate of service thereof as required by this Court’s local rules.DISCOVERY. SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1All discovery must be completed not later than seven (7) days before the evidentiary hearing. The Court will allow discovery after that date only upon a showing of good cause. All expert reports shall be exchanged no later than the conclusion of discovery, unless the parties agree otherwise. The time for responding to interrogatories, requests for admission or requests for production is shortened to fourteen (14) days from service of the discovery.PRETRIAL STIPULATION. The parties shall meet and confer no later than seven (7) days prior to the hearing and prepare a written stipulation substantially in the form of Local Form 63(c) setting forth the following (a) undisputed facts; (b) disputed facts to be litigated; and (c) issues of law to be litigated. The stipulation is to be signed by the attorneys for all parties. The fully executed joint stipulation must be filed no later than one business day prior to the hearing. The Court will not accept unilateral statements and will sua sponte strike any such submission. The failure of any party to cooperate in the preparation of the joint stipulation may result in sanctions. This paragraph does not apply if any party is self-represented.MEDIATION. Pursuant to Local Rule 9019-2, the Court may order the assignment of this contested matter to mediation or judicial settlement conference at any time, upon the request of a party or sua sponte.VIDEO CONFERENCE. The Court is presently closed to in-person hearings as a result of the dangers presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The evidentiary hearing will take place by video conference using the services of Zoom Video Communications, Inc. The Court will provide a password-protected link for the appropriate Zoom video conference to those approved parties who have submitted to the Court a notice of intent to participate in accordance with paragraph 6, below. All counsel and witnesses shall conduct a pre-hearing test of Zoom using the same equipment that they intend to use during the hearing.PRIOR NOTICE OF INTENT TO PARTICIPATE; LIMIT ON PARTICIPATION BY VIDEO; TELEPHONE PARTICIPATION. All parties wishing to participate in the hearing by video conference shall provide notice to Noemi_Sanabria@flsb. via electronic mail no later than 4:00 p.m. prevailing Eastern Time on ____________. The parties are encouraged to limit video conference participation to those who are necessary to the presentation of this matter. If the number of parties wishing to participate in the video conference, in the Court’s view, exceeds the number which would permit the efficient, stable, and reliable transmission of the evidentiary hearing by video conference, the Court may require that certain parties be permitted to participate in the evidentiary hearing only by telephone. The Court will provide to each party participating by telephone separate dial-in instructions, which may be used with any telephone equipment. PUBLIC ACCESS. The evidentiary hearing scheduled by this order is a public matter. The general public is invited to listen to the hearing by telephone. Any person wishing to listen to the hearing by telephone may contact Noemi Sanabria by electronic mail at Noemi_Sanabria@flsb. to obtain dial-in instructions. RECORDING PROHIBITED; OFFICIAL RECORD. No person may record the proceedings from any location by any means. The audio recording created and maintained by the Court shall be the sole basis for creation of a transcript that constitutes the official record of the evidentiary hearing. REMOTE WITNESS TESTIMONY. In accordance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a) (made applicable by Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9017), for good cause and in compelling circumstances a witness may be permitted to testify by contemporaneous transmission from a location other than the courtroom. The Court finds that the public danger presented by the COVID-19 pandemic merits application of this rule with regard to all witnesses who may testify in this matter Refer to the instructions regarding use of Remote Witness Testimony under Judge Isicoff’s name on the Court’s website, flsb.. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is NOT necessary to file a motion seeking permission to use remote witness testimony.RESPONSIBILITY FOR REMOTE WITNESSES. The party sponsoring each remote witness shall be responsible for ensuring that the remote witness has obtained the password-protected link to the video conference, has obtained all exhibits prior to the hearing, has registered with Zoom, and has equipment and internet service sufficient to permit participation in the evidentiary hearing.DIRECT TESTIMONY BY DECLARATION. At each party’s option, except in a contested matter where a party is self-represented, the direct testimony of any witness, except an adverse, hostile, or rebuttal witness, may be presented by sworn declaration consisting of a succinct written statement of the direct testimony that the witness would be prepared to give if questions were propounded in the usual fashion at the hearing. If a party offers a sworn declaration in lieu of direct testimony: The statement shall substantially conform to Local Form 63B and shall be signed by the declarant under penalty of perjury. Each statement of fact shall be separate, shall be sequentially numbered, and shall contain only facts that are relevant and material to the contested issue before the Court, avoiding redundancies, hearsay, and other obviously objectionable statements;The statement may be referenced as the witness’ “sworn declaration of fact;The original sworn declaration of fact shall be marked as a proposed exhibit and filed and delivered as otherwise required by this OrderObjections to any portion of a sworn declaration of fact may be raised at the time the sworn declaration of fact is offered to the Court. The witness shall then be sworn in and asked if the sworn declaration of fact correctly reflects the testimony that would be given if the witness was asked the appropriate questions. Opposing counsel may then cross-examine the witness. At the conclusion of cross-examination, the party whose witness is on the stand may conduct redirect examination in the usual manner; andThe Court may require that direct testimony be provided in the usual manner during the hearing even if a sworn declaration of fact is offered SUBMISSION AND EXCHANGE OF EXHIBITS. Exhibits must be submitted and exchanged in accordance with Interim Local Rule 9070-1 (adopted by Administrative Order 2020-09), which requires all parties to upload exhibits through CM/ECF, with some exceptions where any party is not represented by counsel.CONDUCT DURING VIDEO EVIDENTIARY HEARING. Other than the attorneys questioning a witness on direct examination or cross-examination, no person shall communicate with a witness during his or her testimony unless specifically authorized by the Court. FINAL ARGUMENT. At the conclusion of the evidentiary hearing, in lieu of final argument, the Court may request that each party file a proposed memorandum opinion with findings of fact and conclusions of law. SETTLEMENT. If the contested matter is settled, the parties shall submit to the Court a stipulation approved by all parties and a motion for approval of the same prior to the date of the evidentiary hearing. If a stipulation and motion are not submitted to the Court, all parties shall be prepared to proceed with the evidentiary hearing. If the contested matter is removed from the calendar based upon the announcement of a settlement, the contested matter will not be reset for hearing if the parties fail to consummate the settlement. In such event, the Court will consider only a motion to enforce the settlement, unless the sole reason the settlement is not consummated is that the Court did not approve the settlement, in which case the matter will be reset for hearing at a later date.SANCTIONS. Failure to appear at the evidentiary hearing or to comply with any provision of this order may result in appropriate sanctions, including the award of attorney’s fees, striking of papers, exclusion of exhibits or witnesses, or the granting or denial of the Motion.CONTINUANCES. Continuances of the evidentiary hearing or any deadlines set forth in this order must be requested by written motion. Any request for continuance or amendment to this order shall set forth the status of discovery and shall state the reasons why the party or parties seek a continuance.###Copy to: _________________, Esq.UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURTSOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDAMiami Divisionflsb.In re: Case No. Chapter Debtor. /EXHIBIT REGISTERExhibits Submitted on behalf of:[] Plaintiff[] Defendant[] Debtor[] OtherDate of Hearing/Trial: Type of Hearing/Trial: 171259552959000SUBMITTED BY: 1724660-17081500(Tel.)___________________________________________________________ Exhibit Number/Letter Description Admitted Refused Not IntroducedExhibit Register Continuation PageExhibit Number/Letter Description Admitted Refused Not Introduced ................
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